With the chants of his name echoing off of the roof at Consol Energy Center, Marc-Andre Fleury made one more save as time ran out to secure a victory over the top team in the Western Conference. The save was just 1 out of 17 total shots fired in the third period, alone. While the Chicago Blackhawks, riding a five game winning streak coming into the game, pulled the game within one after being down 3-0, Fleury stood tall and shutdown any chance of a comeback.
Chicago started the game pelting Fleury with shots and playing in the same dominating fashion that has produced 21 wins in the first 34 games this season. The 27 year old goaltender stopped them all before a breakaway by Chris Kunitz gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead on the powerplay. Kunitz’s goal marked the third straight game the Penguins have scored on the man advantage. Meanwhile, Evgeni Malkin chipped in three assists to tie Steven Stamkos in the points race and James Neal notched his 19th goal of the season.
Malkin fed Neal from the Penguins’ zone early in the second period which developed into a 2 on 1 after Blackhawks defenseman, Duncan Keith, pinched into the zone and was trapped. Neal had the option to pass to Chris Kunitz who was streaking down the middle of the ice, instead, fired a perfect wrist shot that went off the far side post and into the net, behind goaltender Ray Emery. Neal’s goal placed him within one of Rocket Richard leading candidate, Phil Kessel.
The Penguins also received help from their reinforcements.
Jordan Staal and Craig Adams, who were injured coming into this game, created a boost as they killed all three Blackhawks powerplays. Staal was excellent in the faceoff circle, winning 16 of 23 draws including 9 of 12 in the defensive zone. He also had a partial breakaway in the third period that was denied by Emery but still gave the Penguins some offensive push after the Blackhawks came out firing.
Ben Lovejoy, who returned to action for the first time since his horrific wrist injury on November 3rd in San jose, set up the game winning goal to Tyler Kennedy. With 3:26 remaining in the second period, Lovejoy aggressively skated down the far side of the offensive zone, circled behind the net and found Kennedy wide open in front of the cage. Emery, expecting a wraparound, went down as Lovejoy fed Kennedy for an easy goal. With the score 3-0 heading into the final period, the Penguins looked to be in complete control.
The 2010 Stanley Cup Champions had a different plan, however.
Jonathan Toews scored his 19th goal of the season 49 seconds into the third period and the Blackhawks were back in the game. Chicago completely took control of the game and drew within one after Viktor Stalberg finished a tic-tac-toe play assisted by Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane. The Blackhawks continued to pepper Fleury with shots and, eventually, drew a powerplay with under two minutes remaining in the game. Pulling their goalie, the Blackhawks went 6 on 4 for the rest of the game but couldn’t score the equalizer as Patrick Sharp’s shot with one second remaining found the mask of Marc-Andre Fleury. With 36 saves, Fleury was in playoff form against a team that has an excellent chance of facing them in the Stanley Cup.
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